Roghaar 1
5th Period
Mrs. Roghaar
English 5
29 January 2015
Informative Essay
The Death of Edgar Allan Poe
Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe got on a train September 27 to Baltimore. A week went by in which no
one knew where he was. When he was found it was outside of a tavern in a drunken stupor,
wearing someone elses dirty, ill-fitting clothes. There is a debate whether he died of alchol
poisoning or rabies. However he died, it marked a tragedy in the history of English literature.
Body
Though we don’t know what happened between the symptoms he displayed in his final
days. He was first sighted semi-conscious, and wearing clothes that didn’t appear to be his. He
degraded into a vacant state, and was admitted to the hospital. At the hospital he began sweating
perfusely, and began to tremor. He also spoke to imaginary objects and people. The next day he
experienced a period of calm, though he was incoherent, and was talking about things that
weren’t real. That afternoon he became belligerent and violent. The next day he began to yell at
random people. He then collapsed exhausted and died.
One of the theory’s of Poe’s death is rabies. Dr. Benitez thinks Poe died of rabies because
he had the symptoms. Some of the symptoms were dillusions, hydrophobia, and loss of memory.
Poe may have been bitten by a rabid animal, but doesn’t remember it. About ¼ of rabies victims
Roghaar 2
don’t ever remember getting bitten. Whenever he drunk alcohol, it made him sick, so he most
likely died from rabies.
Poe was found outside a Baltimore saloon in alcoholic stupor on October 3rd 1849. This is
one of the clues that shows that he might have died from alcohol poisoning. Also he was known
to have alcoholic troubles earlier in his life. A third reason for alcohol related problems. All this
clues point to the death by alcoholism.
Conclusion
In conclusion we don’t know really how Poe died. People think he died from rabies and
some think it was from alcohol poisoning. Dr. Benitez’s theory was that he got rabies from his
cat, but his cat never showed signs of rabies. According to Dr. Moran and Dr. Benedetto’s, he
died of alcohol poisoning because his cat was elsewhere. All and all we don’t know exactly what
happened.